15 Emmy nominees to binge now

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has spoken. Emmy nominations are out, and Showmax shows have scored big.

The 2019 Emmy Awards nominees were announced yesterday and three of the five most-nominated shows are available to binge now on Showmax: HBO’s epic fantasy Game of Thrones, which broke a 25-year-record with 32 nominations, including Best Drama; HBO’s historical drama Chernobyl, which racked up 19 nominations, including Best Limited Series; and HBO’s dark comedy Barry, which scooped 17, including Best Comedy. As expected, HBO was the most nominated network overall, with 137 nominations.

The 71st Primetime Emmy Awards will take place on 22 September 2019, so you have two months to catch up on the world’s best TV, like these 16 nominated series on Showmax:

We’re guessing you’ve heard of this one, but just in case: Based on George R. R. Martin’s A Song Of Fire and Ice novels, this fantasy series revolves around the power struggles to sit on the Iron Throne. The final season played against fantasy tropes to the dismay of many fans – over 1.6m have signed a petition to ‘Remake Game of Thrones Season 8 With Competent Writers’ – but the Academy Of Television Arts and Sciences recognised it for the landmark, record-breaking show it is.

Nominations: 32, including Best Drama, Best Actor (Kit Harington as Jon Snow), Best Actress (Emilia Clarke), Best Supporting Actor (Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister, and Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister) and four of the six Best Supporting Actress nominations (Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister, Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark, Maisie Williams as Arya Stark, and Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth).

Emmy history: It’s won Best Drama the last three times it entered and Best Supporting Actor three times for Peter Dinklage. 2019 marks the first nominations for Sophie Turner, Alfie Allen, and Gwendoline Christie.

First screened on M-Net in South Africa, Chernobyl dramatizes the true story of the 1986 nuclear accident, one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history, and of the brave men and women who made incredible sacrifices to save Europe from unimaginable disaster.

Nominations: 19, including Best Limited Series, Best Actor (Jared Harris as Valery Legasov), Best Supporting Actor (Stellan Skarsgård as Boris Shcherbina), and Best Supporting Actress (Emily Watson as Ulana Khomyuk).

Emmy history: Jared Harris was nominated as Best Supporting Actor in 2012 as Lane Pryce in Mad Men. 2019 marks the first nominations for Stellan Skarsgård and Emily Watson.

First screened on Showmax in South Africa, Barry tells the story of a depressed war vet-turned-hitman who finds passion and romance in a local acting class while on a job in LA. As Season 2 opens, Barry tries to extricate himself from a violent criminal triangle involving the Chechen, Bolivian and Burmese underworld – not to mention some deeply suspicious LA detectives and Monroe Fuches, Barry’s former boss, who has found it exceedingly difficult to hire a replacement as capable as his onetime ace assassin.

Nominations: 17, including Best Comedy, Best Actor (Bill Hader as Barry), Best Supporting Actress (Sarah Goldberg as Sally), and three of the six Best Supporting Actor nominees (Anthony Carrigan as NoHo Hank, Stephen Root as Fuches, and Henry Winkler as Gene Cousineau)

Emmy history: Last year, for Season 1, Bill Hader and Henry Winkler took home Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor Emmys respectively, while Barry also won Best Sound Mixing. 2019 marks the first nominations for Sarah Goldberg, Anthony Carrigan and Stephen Root.

A female employee at a maximum-security prison in upstate New York becomes romantically involved with a pair of inmates and helps them escape. Based on a true story.

Nominations: 12, including Best Limited Series, Best Actress (Patricia Arquette as Tilly Mitchell), Best Actor (Benicio Del Toro as Richard Matt), and Best Supporting Actor (Paul Dano as David Sweat).

Emmy history: Patricia Arquette won the Best Actress Emmy in 2005 as Allison DuBois in Medium. This is the first Emmy nomination for Paul Dano and Benicio Del Toro, who already has an Oscar and Golden Globe to his name.

In Season 2, Offred is pregnant but fighting to free her future child from the dystopian horrors of Gilead, where women are forced to live as concubines under a fundamentalist dictatorship. Season 2 was first screened on M-Net in South Africa.

Nominations: 11, including Best Director (Daina Reed), Best Writing (Bruce Mller, Kira Snyder) and Best Guest Actor (Bradley Whitford) and Best Guest Actress (Cherry Jones), for just the last three episodes of Season 2 – which weren’t eligible last year.

Emmy history: The first two seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale have already won 11 Emmys, including Best Drama and Best Actress (Elisabeth Moss) – categories it wasn’t eligible for this year due to its release timing.

1980: Will and Julie, the children of feuding parents Tom and Lucy Purcell, go missing a week after Halloween in West Finger, Arkansas.

2015: Retired detective Wayne Hays, who originally investigated the crime, is asked to look back on the twists of the unsolved case with a true-crime documentary producer.

Season 3 was first screened on M-Net in South Africa.

Key nominations: 9, including Best Actor In A Limited Series (Mahershala Ali as Wayne Hays).

Emmy history: Season 1 took home five Emmys, including Best Directing and Best Casting. Ali, who has two Oscars to his name already, was nominated for a Guest Actor Emmy in 2016 for his performance as Remy Danton in House of Cards.

First screened on M-Net in South Africa, Sharp Objects follows a reporter who confronts the psychological demons from her past when she returns to her hometown to cover a violent murder.

Nominations: 8, including Best Limited Series, Best Casting, Best Actress (Amy Adams) and Best Supporting Actress (Patricia Clarkson).

Emmy history: Patricia Clarkson already has two Emmys for her role as Sarah O’Connor in Six Feet Under, but this is the first nomination for Amy Adams, who already has six Oscar nominations and two Golden Globes to her name.

The Roy family controls one of the biggest media and entertainment conglomerates in the world. But what will the future hold for them once their aging father begins to step back from the company?

Nominations: 5: Best Drama, Best Directing (Adam McKay), Best Writing (Jesse Armstrong), Best Theme Music (Nicholas Britell), and Best Casting.

Emmy history: None, but it did win the BAFTA for Best International Series and the AFI Award for TV Program of the Year, among other honours.

But that’s not all, folks!

Showmax is also home to Best Cinematography nominees Insecure, Ray Donovan and Ballers, which is also up for Sound Editing; Best Title Design nominee Warrior; and Best Music nominee Game of Thrones: The Last Watch, while Veep S7, nominated for nine Emmys including Best Comedy, is now on Showmax. The Twilight Zone, which has Kumail Nanjiani nominated as Outstanding Guest Actor In a Drama, arrives on Showmax in October 2019, and Catch-22, up for Sound Editing and Special Visual Effects, is also coming soon.

DStv Now is also home to The Good Place, up for five Emmys including Best Comedy; The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, up for Outstanding Interactive Program and Outstanding Variety Talk Series; Black-ish, up for two Emmys, including Best Actor (Anthony Anderson); and triple craft nominees The Big Bang Theory and Will & Grace.